While that may sound like an overstatement – Hispanics are buying only about two million vehicles a year out of total sales of 17 million – there is no denying they are the fastest-growing U.S. demographic. Hispanics will drive about 50 percent of the country’s population growth over the next five years, according to Dealer Marketing Magazine in How Dealers Can Reach the Underserved Hispanic Market.

“It’s estimated that new car sales to Hispanics will grow by 8 percent over the next five years, compared to a 2 percent decline amongst the total market,” according to Dealer Marketing.

Industry growth engine?

“In fact, Hispanic consumers could well be the auto industry’s leading growth engine for the next 20 to 30 years, many industry executives and marketing experts believe,” Automotive News reported. “And it’s happening not just in those states where Hispanic demographics have always been strong, such as California, Texas and Florida, but increasingly in the Midwest and everywhere else.”

Capturing a fraction of this market “can mean huge gains for local dealerships.” said Dealer Marketing.

“But knowing that Hispanics are more likely to buy cars than other audiences and actually selling cars to Hispanics are two different things,” suggests The Marketing Insider.

Reflecting Hispanic culture

“Research shows that a vast majority – 79 percent – of Hispanics are more receptive to auto ads when those ads are reflective of their culture in some way. This includes ads or initiatives that involve Spanish-language content, as well as those that speak to the deeper values of the Hispanic community.”

The Insider cited a Ford social media video ad campaign that featured “everyday heroes in Hispanic communities” drawing nearly two million views and 6.6 million social impressions in nine weeks, as well as a Honda campaign “aligning with certain values and behaviors of Hispanic consumers.”

What this means, according to Dealer Marketing, is “creating authentic, culturally relevant online experiences for Hispanics … [while also] deploying a Spanish version of a dealership’s website and ensuring it remains in sync with the content and inventory found on the dealer’s English website.”